Background suppression (BGS) is widely used in brain
arterial spin labeling (ASL) as a means to reduce physiological noise due to
subject motion and metabolic fluctuation. We performed pulsed ASL myocardial
blood flow (MBF) experiments with and without BGS. Using BGS, myocardial signal
was reduced by 82%, but the change in physiological noise and MBF measurement
confidence was statistically insignificant. This study demonstrates that static
myocardial tissue signals are not significant contributors to physiological
noise in myocardial ASL.